To keep up with the high-quality posting here on S&D, I thought I would just put up this great comic from one of my favorite cartoon web-sites, toothpastefordinner.com. Anyway, I thought it would be a particularly good intro to the site, as “i’m going to use kerning to bring ‘i’ and ‘u’ closer together” is a typography joke that cracks me up. *DORK* (The language on the second part: INAPPROPRIATE! Double dork.)
PS I WORKED FOR A BILLION HOURS TODAY ON VARIOUS POSTS. One is Oscar related, so that might not appear until Feb. But, good stuff coming, eventually, and a post from Tricia tomorrow (er, this morning… when did it get so late?).
After various adventures (click if you are curious), I have returned! With! Something! Exciting! As an ardent doodler, my notebooks are littered with squiggles and fat birds (affectionately nicknamed my little “obese birdies”). I will be writing lines of text in my awful handwriting, and SUDDENLY I’ll start thinking about something silly. Like petit fours. Too weak to resist the doodling twitches, I find myself abandoning a block of text, finding a clean plot of paper, and stamping my claim. As a result, it’s a lovely treat to come across a tighttt doodling tool. Yes, these pens are worthy of the extra Ts.
The Kuretake Pocket Color Brush Pen is perfect for doodling! My greatest beef with marker pens is that they often have weak tips. Although it is possible that I exert an abnormally excessive amount of force (I have small hands and weak arm muscles…PRESIDENTIAL FITNESS PULL-UPS? FAIL.), I feel like marker pens should at least be able to survive my abuse. I’ve played with my pink Kuretake brush pen for a while (thank you JetPens!), and the tip is still in perfect condition (WIN). I even subjected it to….
THE STICKERS AND DONUTS WRITING IMPLEMENT TEST SHEET (SO FRESH, SO THOROUGH)!!!!
Maria crafted this official test sheet, and it is exciting to finally debut it! As you can see, I am hardly the artist. ALSO OF NOTE, I should have added “so far” after “Things I Have Eaten Today.” Fear not: I am hardly anorexic; this list simply logs my intake from 8-1pm that day. The most notable bit of this great test sheet is the water test! I subjected my last new pen to a torturous waterboarding test, and felt it necessary to again execute the same test. The Kuretake brush pen line is supposed to be water resistant, and this test confirms it. The blob is only minimally fuzzy, despite all the water I threw at it. SUCCESS.
Kuretake Pocket Color Brush Pen – $1.50 per pen; 6 color set ($9); 12 color set ($18) at JetPens.com!
Maria’s Note, 1/24: As per your requests, a blank, full-page version of the “Writing Implement Test Sheet” is available for download here.
Must say, I love the new whitehouse.gov web-site that launched today along w/Obama’s presidency. Worth taking a look around. A white house blog and everything!
The day is finally here! : ) If you’d like to re-live the election, visit the Election Collection (still one of my favorite things I’ve done for S&D).
A “metaphorically crude” (as the creator himself puts it) desktop wallpaper from elsanchez.com. (more…)
So, I know, we’ve been a bit MIA. But we are working on a new blogger or two and we are reassessing our lives and doing all that stuff that comes with the new year. And, I’ve been away from my personal computer for 2+ weeks. We aren’t back on track yet, but I can still promise you a little something new every week : ).
Anyway, here is a kind of Currently Obsessed for the YEAR. I tried to think back on all of my favorites of 2008.
Music: Joe Purdy’s Can’t Get it Right Today was played 60 times on my itunes alone, never mind my ipod which I use more frequently. You can listen to the song on his web-page by clicking on the You Can Tell Georgia CD, or you can go straight to YouTube. PS This song is perfect for Mondays, days on which I can’t seem to get anything right.
Purchase: Okay, so my real best purchase is my MacBook Pro, which replaced my five year old 40GB Dell Laptop. But my next best purchase, for approx $1998 less, was this frother from Ikea. After it, I came to love frothing things. Then I came to love coffee. It was a big spiral out of control. And now I have way too much air-intensified-milk and caffine.
Local Trip: My friend Misa and I went to the Flushing and the New York’s World Fair Grounds for a day. It’s right here in Queens, and I had so much fun visiting the dilapidated structures and wondering what they used to look like. Also, I LOVED the Panorama of NYC — amazing! You can re-live the adventure here on my blog.
Fashion Piece: These black high-heels from H&M. Hands down. They go with practically anything and don’t kill my feet. They’re still at H&Ms for about $25.
New Food: I love Purple Sticky Rice, so when I found RICE in Brooklyn (also has locations in Manhattan), I was so excited. Then I found this ridiculous meal with chicken, mushrooms, yogurt, and bananas, and I was completely intrigued — it sounded awful! But it didn’t! You can re-read all about my min-adventure at RICE here.
Holiday Project: Every year for Thanksgiving, my family has a contest where you make a turkey out of a paper bag. Sadly, my turkey did not win this year, but the Sarah Palin turkey, shown above, did win, and it’s so easy to see why. How my cousins managed to make a turkey look like Palin, I will never know, but great job, isn’t it?
Book: So, it’s a little embarrassing, but my very first post was about the various book covers of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Freebie: I love the Poladroid, which turns any photo into a Polaroid. If you can believe it, I was LOOKING for this exact item — not just a program that put a bumpy white edge around my picture, but actually changed the color balance so it looked vintage. (Next year my favorite freebie is sure to be Picasa for Macs — FINALLY RELEASED!)
Be sure to let me know if you have any favorites of 2008!
Note: The type used in this post is *free* from this fabulous site, which Tricia recently featured in a short post.
Happy Saturday! I hope you all had a lovely new year’s eve/day. Yesterday, I sifted through my neglected Reader, and saw something on Pikaland that warmed my geeky little heart.
!@$%&!!! Designed by illustrator Mithila Shafiq, this font was featured in the October issue of Neo2. Organic chemistry was one of my favorite college classes, and I remember playing with my little molecular building kit. I only tried making critters, and never anything THIS neat. Ho hum. Neo2 has a whole collection of free fonts, and I am particularly fond of this one as well:
WASH TYPE by Emilia Bertola Longhi. And the little tilda’d n? So precious. One last note: All of these fonts are only available as a package of jpeg images of each letter- NOT as a TrueType font file.
Yesterday, Maria shared her Christmas loot. Past-Tricia thought, “Gee… I guess it would be appropriate to share what I received this holiday season as well.” Below is a selection of items that present-Tricia is currently enjoying.
Saucony Jazz sneakers – I’ve never owned Saucony sneakers, or worn sneakers with thumb-size soles. The soles honestly frighten me. I’m already not very graceful, and I forsee a lot of awkward plummets. I like these sneakers, though, and I’m going to test them out/power through the gigantic soles.
Imperfect Articles T-shirt (Mine is by Rob Davis and Michael Langlois) – This is the best T-shirt I have ever owned. Based in Chicago, Imperfect Articles is an exceptional shirt company that amalgamates fine art and fashion. The shirts feature the designs of upcoming and established artists, and are incredibly limited edition (only 30-50 pressings!!!). Given that each shirt is hand-dyed, screen-printed, and numbered, these shirts are truly works of art. I love how each shirt has a background story and is so unique. The work on my shirt (19/50!) is Teenagers from Mars, which features the lyrics to the Misfits song “Teenagers from Mars” in ARABIC!
Tea Forte – I’ve always admired the design of Tea Forte bags. They’re too perfect!
The Forever War by Dexter Filkins – Ever since my nectar-sweet friend Tina told me about Dexter Filkins, I’ve wanted to read The Forever War. Not only did I receive a copy, but it is signed by Dexter Filkins! And he wishes me good luck in the future. At the pace I’m going, I need a lot of luck. VERDICT: this is a wonderful gift.
Saraid Oxford by Jeffrey Campbell - My first pair of Jeffrey Campbell shoes! I have a wee penchant for Jeffrey Campbell shoes, because they are really neat. The designs are impeccably detailed and fun. One of my closest friends wore a splendid pair at graduation, which provoked me to more seriously consider getting a pair. I’m not sure where you can get mine, but I’ve provided a link of the shoes in black & white.
DeLonghi Espresso machine – I used to be a barista, and one of my favorite aspects of the job was the opportunity to practice making latte designs. I’m rather excited about this espresso machine, however, I’ve already invested a few hours in trying to figure it out, only leading to my FAILURE. I’m horrible at reading directions. In this particular case, when I start reading, I get too excited and can’t focus on the directions!
Snowshowers Jelly and Solid Perfume – I easily get sick of scents, but I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of Lush‘s Snowshowers. I am currently, and forever more, obsessed with the scent. A blend of champagne, orange, and cognac, Snowshowers is extremely refreshing! And I’ve recently learned that Lush Jellys are great. You can put them in the freezer to make them wobble like firm tofu, and pinch off a corner when you’re in the shower. I am new to Lush. I wonder if this enthusiasm is normal to a new Lush convert.
My cousin Lena (age 14) & I are hotly (or coldy, har har) debating our winter favorites. So, we thought we’d do a Winter War Post! : )
Winter Sweet
Lena: “Pecan Crescent Cookies because they’re yummy & crumbly.”
Maria: “Chocolate Chip Cookies when they are soft and the chocolate is melty!” (I go with the Nestle’s recipe.)
Winter-Wear
Lena: “Not all winter boots have to be bulky, especially when you spend most of your days wandering the city streets.” [Shown here: Canvas Cuff Boot, Urban Outfitters, $68]
Maria: “Fuzzy socks, because I spend my days wandering the living room. And it’s cold in here.”
Snowy Outdoor Activity
Lena: “I’ve always liked making little houses, things I could go inside of, out of snow.”
Maria: “I love making very creative snow structures, such as these Calvin & Hobbes-style snowmen. Freshman year of college, I made a snowman that looked like it was impaled by a tree.”
Winter Hats
Lena: “I am hopelessly devoted to 1920s style hats. It’s a strange obsession, I know.” [Shown here: Crocheted Flapper Cloche Hat, FlapperDashery on Etsy, $98]
Maria: “I know that at my age maybe I shouldn’t wear animal hats, and when I searched for them on Etsy I got mostly baby hats, to which my cousin promptly said, ‘Maybe they don’t make them for adults.’ But they do, because I have a knitted Monkey Hat with Monkey Gloves!” [Shown here: Grey Fox Hat, QuteWear on Etsy, $25]
Winter Drinks
Lena: “Okay, I never actually tried this, but I can imagine it tastes delicious. Anything with chocolate & coffee HAS to be good! It should be against the law if it isn’t.” [Starbuck's Espress Truffle]
Maria: “Combining alcohol and chocolate seems like the most brilliant idea since combining chocolate and coffee! (Seriously, these are super good! There’s actual liquid hard liquor inside the chocolate!)” [Liqueur Chocolates]
It’s almost 2009, so I thought I’d review some stats for 2008. Those of you who are new readers might enjoying kicking back & looking at some old faves.
5 of the Most Viewed Posts on Stickers & Donuts in 2008
(5) Erase your mistakes with donuts.
I loveeee these erasers from JetPens, and so did StumbleUponers, who couldn’t seem to get enough of the cute little munchies (including a donut)!
Apparently, I’m not the only fan of AMC’s hit show Mad Men, or at least that early 1960s style. People loved reading about contemporary merchandise that looks like it could be from the show, and the post even helped prompt communication with Dyna Moe, who let me interview her about her Mad Men desktop wallpapers!
(3) 2008 Election Collection (Over 100 Obama & Internet Finds!) Part I
Thank god this collection of Presidential Election (mostly Obama) links made the list, it only took me about TEN HOURS to compile. As people came to view the post, they sent me more and more links, until WordPress became overwhelmed and I had to create an Election Collection Part II.
(2) We Love School Supplies: Pens & Pencils
Tricia’s inaugural post was widely popular, and not just among those who were going back to school. Lesson learned: Even adults like their pens to be FUN. In fact, I got a Number-8-esque pen for Xmas — you can use to write or make Play Dough Spaghetti.
(1) Threadless: Not Just a Tube
There are many posts I’ve spent hours and hours on. This is not one of them. I emailed threadless, asked for permission to post their tube insert on my blog, and they kindly agreed. StumbleUpon and NotCot users were thrilled at Threadless’ little joke!
While you artsy kids are sipping egg nog and marshmallow-bombarded cocoa, here’s a lovely contest to think about. Our friend, Atequah, of the American Civil League Union (ACLU) would like YOU to enter the ACLU’s Restoration of America poster contest.
We are asking artist and designers to “join the socially conscious design community in creating a poster that depicts the transformation of America into a country that holds its leaders accountable; that strives to restore eroded civil liberties; that works to change policies that are unconstitutional.”- Atequah
The winner’s design will be featured in a national ACLU campaign, and the winner will receive $500! The deadline is January 18th, so start designing!
